Jefferson Morris

Jeff has been involved in aerospace journalism for more than a decade. Prior to joining Aviation Week, Jeff served as managing editor of Launchspace magazine and the International Space Industry Report. He received his B.A. from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

Articles

The House Appropriations Subcommittee that funds NASA marked up and approved an $18.5 billion fiscal 2016 spending bill for the agency May 14 that boosts exploration, but slightly cuts science funding as compared to 2015-enacted levels.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-led Deep Space Climate Observatory (Dscovr) is closing in on a planned Jan. 23 launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, kicking off a mission to provide advanced warning of potentially dangerous solar storms.

Operating from the L1 Lagrangian point 1 million mi. from Earth, the $340 million Dscovr – a joint effort by NOAA and the U.S. Air Force – is set to become the world’s first operational deep-space satellite.

NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (Maven) spacecraft is on track to complete its 10-month journey to the red planet on Sept. 21, when it will enter an initial elliptical orbit to begin its planned one-year mission studying Mars’ climate.

This week the U.S. Transportation Command (Transcom), Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and the related military services offices changed to an automatic identification technology that it expects will save millions of dollars annually in transportation and distribution costs.

The U.S. Air Force’s upcoming Operationally Responsive Space-3 (ORS-3) demonstration, poised for launch Nov. 19 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Va., is aimed at demonstrating a bevy of new technologies, as well as “commercial-like” launch processes that could reduce the cost of future national security space missions.

Lockheed Martin is closing and consolidating several U.S. facilities and laying off 4,000 employees in what the company calls an effort “to increase the efficiency of its operations and improve the affordability of its products and services” in light of continued reductions in U.S. government spending.

The cuts will leave the company with 112,000 employees. The company’s workforce has been reduced 23% since 2008, when it employed 146,000.

Lockheed Martin is closing and consolidating several U.S. facilities and laying off 4,000 employees in what the company calls an effort “to increase the efficiency of its operations and improve the affordability of its products and services” in light of continued reductions in U.S. government spending.

FAA has given Applied Research Associates Inc.’s (ARA) Nighthawk IV micro-UAV a special airworthiness certificate, which will allow potential customers to apply for agency approval to operate the 2-lb. aicraft in the national airspace.

The FAA has given Applied Research Associates Inc.’s (ARA’s) Nighthawk IV micro-unmanned aircraft system (UAS) a special airworthiness certificate, which will allow potential customers to apply for agency approval to operate the 2-lb. aircraft in the national airspace.

“This special airworthiness certificate is supported by extensive safety, manufacturing, inspection, maintenance and crew training procedures that were reviewed and accepted by the FAA as part of a recent visit to witness post-certification maiden flights,” ARA says in an announcement.